Kimagure Orange Road-The High Note
by Richard Beaubien
Summary: A young Ayukawa Madoka discovers she wants to make beautifull music for the special someone in her life


Kimagure Orange Road Short Fic: The High Note  
  
By Richard Beaubien (Edited)  
  
[Spoiler Warning: This fic uses events and settings that take place after  
the end of the TV series and movies. If you haven't seen all KOR yet and  
are planning on watching it then you might not want to read this story as  
it may spoil the final episodes for you.   
  
You have been warned, so I want no flames coming at me if you do get  
spoiled....:]  
  
  
  
*****  
  
It was around 1 PM on a warm spring Sunday afternoon and Ayukawa Madoka was  
once again climbing her favorite tree. It was a regular occurrence to see  
her climbing seem the tree on Sunday, a ritual that the young girl had started  
almost a month ago.  
  
The tree itself was nothing special, a plain old Oak tree of moderate  
height and only having a few branches and leaves. The district certainly  
had more majestic tree's for young people to climb and explore, providing  
breathtaking views of the city and it's inhabitants. But Madoka didn't  
climb this tree because it was special or because it offered a postcard  
view. She climbed the tree because it looked into the backyard of a house,  
a plain looking old house. A yard that, because of the fence which surrounded   
it, was only visible from the tree.  
  
Madoka took a deep breath as she finished her climb, sitting down so she  
could see all of the yard. The yard itself contained a small garden and a   
selection of trees cut in the traditional Bonsai art. In the corner was a  
small bench overlooking a patch of lily flowers and a koi pond. A big smile  
came over Madoka's face as she saw the bench was occupied by an old man with  
a saxophone, a saxophone which he slowly placed to his lips and started to   
play.  
  
The notes rose towards Madoka's makeshift concert seat, the rhythm causing  
her foot to tap. It was a mixture of big band music with a hint of blues  
thrown in though she really didn't care what the music was made of. For  
it reminded her of him, the person who had came to save her a month ago.  
The person that had stood up for her and had even given her a gift. She  
wanted to do more to repay him for that gift, but she could only give him  
one thing. Something that was from her heart.   
  
"Ahem!"  
  
"Eh!?" Madoka exclaimed as she was shaken from her train of thought.  
  
"Can I help you Young Lady?"  
  
"Well....Not really."  
  
"Oh...Then you've been hanging from my tree the last few Sunday's for no  
reason then, eh?" the man asked in a chuckle as he lit a cigarette.  
  
"Um...Ah," Madoka stuttered before composing herself and quickly replying  
with "I'm not hanging for your information Ji-san. I'm sitting."  
  
The man puffed on his cigarette before he replied in a slight giggle,  
"Well that you are Young Lady, but you still have explained why you're  
sitting there."  
  
"Well Ji-san, I happen to..I happen to..likeyourmusic," Madoka mumbled  
at once in a soft voice.   
  
"Nani? Could you repeat that again please."  
  
"I said I liked your music, and I climbed your tree to see who was playing  
it."  
  
A look of wonder crossed the old man's face as he took another puff of  
smoke. "Really, you like my music? And here I thought I wasn't that  
good."  
  
"No, your music is really great," Madoka beamed as her face broke out into  
a friendly smile, "It has a nice beat and a strength to it. A strength  
that reminds me of someone..." Madoka trailed off as she finished the  
sentence.   
  
"Oh, so you think it has a strength to it?"  
  
"Hai Ji-san!!! The rhythm has a lot of hidden strength to it"  
  
"Well I don't know about rhythm and stuff like that. I just play the  
music," the man sighed as he extinguished the cigarette on the ground. A  
slight frown appeared on his face before he started to speak again, "I  
play the music to remind me of someone too. And I guess she did have a  
strength about her," the man chuckled as his frown gave way to a  
reminiscing smile. "I'm amazed that you where able to feel that from the  
music Young lady."  
  
A blush crossed over Madoka's face before she started to reply in a  
humble voice "Well it's just a feeling I got, I get a lot of feelings from  
music that I listen too."  
  
"Oh really, it sounds like you have a gift,. Have you ever tried to play  
an instrument before Young lady."  
  
The smile on Madoka's face quickly turned to a clearly visible frown. "Not  
really. My parents wanted me to take some violin lessons once, but I don't  
like the violin."  
  
"Well you seem to like the saxophone."  
  
"I just like the music it plays, it's music is better than a violin. It's  
more comforting..."  
  
A hearty laugh came from the old man as he lit another cigarette and  
placed it into his mouth. "If you say so, Young lady, if you say so." The  
smile stayed on his face as a wisp of smoke reached his eyes. "Well  
then, would you like to try the Saxophone out Young Lady?"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
"Wai! Arigato Ji-san!" Madoka exclaimed as she leapt from her seat in the  
tree towards the ground in the yard. Doing a small flip while falling, she  
landed on both of her feet and ran over to the bench to pick up the  
saxophone from the old man. Placing a firm and natural looking grip over  
it, she slowly placed her lips over the mouth piece and started to play  
the song which had caused her to seek out her front row seat in the tree.   
  
"BLEEEE!!!!:" the saxophone screamed as Madoka started to play it, causing  
the local alley cat's to screech in accompaniment. Madoka's eyes suddenly  
filled with tears as she started to hand the saxophone back. "Ji-san, I  
broke it!!"  
  
A look of whimsy crossed the old man's face as he placed the saxophone  
back on his lap. "Nonsense, you just need to practice. If you work hard  
enough I'm sure you'd be able to make great music."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
"Then can you teach me Ji-san?"  
  
"No," the old man responded, "I'm not good enough to teach you. You need a  
professional."  
  
"But, But!!"  
  
"No But's young lady," the man lectured as he started to lead Madoka  
towards the gate. "Your talent is too good to be lead astray by a layman  
like me."  
  
"Ji-san!!" Madoka exclaimed as the gate slowly started to close behind  
her, "Your a great player. It would be honor to learn under you!!!"  
  
"Thanks for your praise, but I'm not worthy of it." the man smiled as he  
closed the gate behind Madoka. Peering over the gate to look at her, he  
slowly began to finish his reply, "You need to have a real teacher if you  
want to play special music for someone special. And you do want to play  
special music for him don't you?"  
  
"Hai.."  
  
"Then it's best if you learn from a sensei than someone like me. Well it  
was a pleasure to meet you. Ja ne!!" The face disappeared from the top of  
the gate, the wisps of smoke flying to the sky. As she turned away Madoka  
heard a faint whisper come from the man, "She has the same talent you did  
Yume-san. And I think she'll make as good music as you once did." The  
music slowly started to play again, this time a different song. A slightly  
sadder song but still full of strength, a song which she would someday  
know as 'Melody no Kenji-san'  
  
"Ji-san," Madoka cried before she started to slowly walk away. She took  
one more look at the tree, a tree that she had climbed perhaps for the  
last time in her life. It was an ending, but as the man's saxophone music  
filled her ears she felt it was also a beginning. A new path was open to  
her, and she would soon be able to make special music for all of the  
special people in her life, including....  
  
****  
  
Ayukawa groaned as the sunlight slowly filled her eyes. Slowly she rose  
from the bed to see that it was empty except for her. A loud yawn came  
from her as she started to stretch, and think about the dream she had last  
night. A dream which she had seen 3 times over the last month, a dream  
about one of the more important times in her life. When she first became  
interested in the saxophone, and more importantly in making her own music.  
  
"Madoka, can you get me a towel please?"   
  
"Hai!! Hang on a second," Ayukawa responded as she picked up a bath towel.  
Slowly she walked over to the bath room, a soft smile appearing on her face.  
Her music had found the audience that inspired it, and she had found the  
person she was looking for. A person she always knew would be waiting for  
her, no matter what happened.  
  
"Arigato Madoka," Kasuga replied as he took the towel from Ayukawa's  
hands. He started to head back into the bathroom when he saw the smile on  
Ayukawa's face. "And why are you so happy this morning Madoka." Kasuga  
teased as he wrapped the towel around himself.  
  
"I'm happy, I'm happy that I found the special person I wanted to make Music  
for," Ayukawa replied as she reached over to place a kiss on Kasuga's  
cheek. "Arigato Kyousuke, Arigato."  
  
*Fin  
  
Japanese Terms used in this fic(Some may be obvious to you, but might not  
be to others...:)  
  
Ji-san=Old Man  
Hai=Yes  
Arigato=Thank You  
Ja ne=Good Bye  
Wai= An expression for excitement. Think of a much cuter version of  
cool..:)  
  
  
Anyway, comments are always welcome!!  
  



End file.
